Interference Control of Uplink Positioning

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining a location of a low power wide area device ( 300 ) connected to a cellular network. The method is carried out by a positioning node ( 100 ) and comprises the steps of receiving a positioning request for the low power wide area device ( 300 ) and selecting a first set of radio access nodes ( 200 ) of the cellular network which are available and ready to process an uplink positioning signal transmitted by the low power wide area device ( 300 ). The method further comprises the steps of requesting the low power wide area device ( 300 ) to transmit the uplink positioning signal, receiving, from the each of the first set of radio access nodes ( 200 ), a respective arrival indication comprising information as to when the uplink positioning signal was received at the respective radio access node of the first set of radio access nodes, and determining the location of the low power wide area device ( 300 ) based on the arrival indications received from at least some of the radio access nodes of the first set of radio access nodes.

1 - 53 . (canceled) 
     
     
         54 . A method for determining a location of a low power wide area device connected to a cellular network, the method comprising a positioning node:
 receiving a positioning request for the low power wide area device;   determxining a level of congestion of a reference cell in which the low power wide area device is located and of neighboring cells of the reference cell;   selecting a first set of radio access nodes of the cellular network which are available and ready to process an uplink positioning signal transmitted by the low power wide area device based on the determined level of congestion;   requesting the low power wide area device to transmit the uplink positioning signal;   receiving, from the each of the first set of radio access nodes, a respective arrival indication comprising information as to when the uplink positioning signal was received at the respective radio access node of the first set of radio access nodes; and   determining the location of the low power wide area device based on the arrival indications received from at least some of the radio access nodes of the first set of radio access nodes.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the selecting the first set of radio access nodes comprises:
 selecting a second set of radio access nodes of the cellular network which should process the uplink positioning signal;   determining which of the radio access nodes of the second set of radio access nodes are available and ready to process the uplink positioning signal;   wherein the first set of radio access nodes comprises the radio access nodes from the second set of radio access nodes for which it is confirmed that these radio access nodes are available and ready to process the uplink positioning signal.   
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein the determining which of the radio access nodes of the second set of radio access nodes are available comprises:
 transmitting a capability request to each radio access node of the second set of radio access nodes as to whether the respective radio access node of the second set of radio access nodes is capable of receiving and processing the uplink positioning signal;   determining for which of the radio access nodes of the second set of radio access nodes a positive confirmation is received in response to the transmitted capability request;   wherein the first set of radio access nodes comprises all the radio access nodes for which a positive confirmation is received.   
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 55 :
 wherein the second set of radio access nodes is selected from a list of radio access nodes;   wherein, in response to determining that one of the radio access nodes of the second set of radio access nodes is not available and ready to process the uplink positioning signal, a further radio access node present in the list of radio access nodes is selected, and it is determined whether the further radio access node is available and ready to process the uplink positioning signal.   
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 55 :
 wherein the second set of radio access nodes comprises a larger number of radio access nodes than the first set of radio access nodes;   wherein requesting the low power wide area device to transmit the uplink positioning signal is only carried out when it is determined that a predefined number of radio access nodes from the second set of radio access nodes is available and ready to process the uplink positioning signal.   
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 55 :
 further comprising determining whether a predefined condition has been met for the first set of radio access nodes;   wherein when the predefined condition is not met:
 the low power wide area device is not requested to send the uplink positioning signal; and 
 a failure message is sent in response to the received positioning request, the failure message indicating that the location of the low power wide area device is not determined. 
   
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 59 :
 wherein the predefined condition comprises a minimum number of radio access nodes for which it is confirmed that these radio access nodes are available and ready to process the uplink positioning signal;   wherein the low power wide area device is only requested to transmit the uplink positioning signal when the minimum number of radio access nodes is above a predefined threshold.   
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the positioning request is received from a mobility managing node of the cellular network and/or the low power wide area device. 
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the requesting the low power wide area device to transmit the uplink positioning signal comprises informing the low power wide area device that the transmission of the uplink positioning signal is allowed as long as no indication is received indicating to the low power wide area device that it should stop transmitting the uplink positioning signal. 
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the requesting the low power wide area device to transmit the uplink positioning signal comprises:
 informing the low power wide area device of a transmission resource to be used for the transmission of the uplink positioning signal; and/or   determining a group of low power wide area devices which should transmit the uplink positioning signal, and encoding device information into a request broadcast to a plurality of low power wide area devices which information allows identification of each member of the group.   
     
     
         64 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the location of the low power wide area device is determined based on an observed time difference of arrival of the different arrival indications received from the first set of radio access nodes. 
     
     
         65 . A method for operating a radio access node in a cellular network, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a positioning node, a capability request requesting whether the radio access node is capable of receiving and processing an uplink positioning signal transmitted from a low power wide area device;   determining whether the radio access node is capable of receiving and processing the uplink positioning signal;   in response to the determination being in the affirmative:
 transmitting a confirmation to the positioning node in response to the capability request, the confirmation confirming the capability to receive and process the uplink positioning signal; 
 receiving the uplink positioning signal from the low power wide area device; 
 determining an arrival indication comprising information as to when the uplink positioning signal was received at the radio access radio access node; and 
 transmitting the arrival indication to the positioning node; 
   wherein the determining whether the radio access node is capable of receiving and processing the uplink positioning signal comprises:
 determining an operating condition of the radio access node; and 
 determining, based on the operating condition, whether the radio access node is capable of receiving the uplink positioning signal; 
 wherein the determining the operating condition comprises determining whether the radio access node is able to listen to the uplink positioning signal to be transmitted by the low power wide area device; wherein, when the radio access node is able to listen to the uplink positioning signal, the positioning node is informed accordingly. 
   
     
     
         66 . The method of  claim 65  wherein, when it is determined that the radio access node is not able to listen to the uplink positioning signal, the low power wide area device is informed of this fact. 
     
     
         67 . The method of  claim 66 , wherein the fact is encoded into a system information broadcast by the radio access radio access node. 
     
     
         68 . The method of  claim 65 , wherein, when it is determined that the radio access node is not capable of receiving and processing the uplink positioning signal, the positioning node is informed that the radio access node is not capable of receiving and processing the uplink positioning signal. 
     
     
         69 . A positioning node configured to determine a position of a low power wide area device connected to a cellular network, the positioning node comprising:
 processing circuitry;   memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the positioning node is operative to:
 receive a positioning request for the low power wide area device; 
 determine a level of congestion of a reference cell in which the low power wide area device is located and of neighboring cells of the reference cell; 
 select a first set of radio access nodes of the cellular network which are available and ready to process an uplink positioning signal transmitted by the low power wide area device based on the determined level of congestion; 
 request the low power wide area device to transmit the uplink positioning signal; 
 receive, from the each of the first set of radio access nodes, a respective arrival indication comprising information as to when the uplink positioning signal was received at the respective radio access node of the first set of radio access nodes; and 
 determine the location of the low power wide area device based on the arrival indications received from at least some of the radio access nodes of the first set of radio access nodes. 
   
     
     
         70 . A radio access node for a cellular network, the radio access node comprising:
 processing circuitry;   memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the radio access node is operative to:
 receive, from a positioning node, a capability request requesting whether the radio access node is capable of receiving and processing an uplink positioning signal transmitted from a low power wide area device; 
 determine whether the radio access node is capable of receiving and processing the uplink positioning signal; 
 in response to the determination being in the affirmative:
 transmit a confirmation to the positioning node in response to the capability request, the confirmation confirming the capability to receive and process the uplink positioning signal; 
 receive the uplink positioning signal from the low power wide area device; 
 determine an arrival indication comprising information as to when the uplink positioning signal was received at the radio access radio access node; and 
 
 transmit the arrival indication to the positioning node; 
   wherein the determining whether the radio access node is capable of receiving and processing the uplink positioning signal comprises:
 determining an operating condition of the radio access node; and 
 determining, based on the operating condition, whether the radio access node is capable of receiving the uplink positioning signal; 
 wherein the determining the operating condition comprises determining whether the radio access node is able to listen to the uplink positioning signal to be transmitted by the low power wide area device; wherein, when the radio access node is able to listen to the uplink positioning signal, the positioning node is informed accordingly.